The present invention relates to a wrapper that contains and protects a stack of one or more folded shirts or blouses and is particularly useful as a luggage accessory.
Most articles of clothing that a traveler packs in his or her luggage when traveling need not arrive at a destination wrinkle-free or well-organized. The traveler does, however, want his or her shirts and blouses, especially those used for business and social events, to look good. Shirt wrappers are available commercially as luggage accessories for holding several folded shirts and blouses and protecting them reasonably well from wrinkling.
Examples of previously known shirt wrappers are described and shown in US Patents of Chinman Nos. 4,562,952, 4,881,684, and Des. 269,228. The shirt wrappers of those patents have a fabric body composed of a rectangular base and four flaps, one extending outwardly from each edge of the base. A rectangular stiffener sheet is received in a pocket formed by a rectangular fabric panel that is stitched along three sides to the perimeter of the base. The wrapper also has a separate, loose rectangular stiffener plate, which is used as a xe2x80x9cformxe2x80x9d for folding the shirts neatly, should it be necessary to do so. (In the latter regard, shirts that come from professional laundries are folded and bound and can be placed in a conventional shirt wrapper without refolding.)
After the user places a stack of folded shirts on the base of the wrapper, the loose stiffener plate is placed on the top of the stack. One pair of opposite flaps are folded over and joined where they overlap by hook and loop fastener strips (VELCRO(copyright)). Similarly, the remaining pair of opposite flaps are folded over and joined.
For the most part, shirt wrappers of the type described and shown in the patents referred to above are easy to use and protect the shirts and blouses quite well for transport in a traveler""s luggage. The stack of shirtsxe2x80x94hereafter, references to xe2x80x9cshirtsxe2x80x9d should be read to include blousesxe2x80x94is contained in a sandwich between the stiffener sheets, which protects the stack from becoming disorganized and the shirts from becoming wrinkled. One drawback of those wrappers is the separate, loose stiffener sheet. When the traveler opens the wrapper to take out a shirt, he or she must first remove the loose stiffener sheet and perhaps set it aside while a particular shirt is selected. If the traveler chooses to keep the shirts in the wrapper rather than unpacking them and hanging them up or putting them in a drawer, the loose stiffener sheet has to be put back. The loose stiffener sheet is also prone to becoming misplaced or lost.
One object of the present invention is to provide a shirt wrapper that is more convenient to use than are those described above. Another object is to minimize the possibility that a top stiffener sheet of a shirt wrapper will be misplaced or lost.
The foregoing objects are attained, in accordance with the present invention, by a shirt wrapper for containing and protecting a stack of folded shirts that includes a body of a flexible material having a rectangular base having narrower end edges and longer side edges. A pair of end flaps, one joined to each of the end edges, are of a length such as to fold up from the base along the ends of the stack of shirts and at least part way over the top of the stack of shirts. A first rectangular side flap is joined to one side edge of the base. The first side flap has a width equal to the width of the base of the body between the ends and a length such as to fold up along one side of the stack of shirts and entirely over the top of the stack of shirts. A second side flap having a length such as to fold up along the other side of the stack of shirts and at least partway over the top of the stack of shirts extends from the other side edge of the base. A panel of flexible material attached to the base of the body forms with the base a bottom pocket coextensive with the base between the ends. The bottom pocket receives a stiffener sheet, which is substantially coextensive with the base of the body. A panel of flexible material attached to the first side flap forms with the first side flap a top pocket having a width equal to the width of the first side flap, an opening spaced apart from the juncture of the first side flap and an edge coextensive with the free edge of the first side. A top stiffener sheet of substantially the same size as the bottom stiffener sheet is received in the top pocket. A fastener is provided for joining the underside of the second side flap to the top of the first side flap when the wrapper is folded over a stack of shirts.
A shirt wrapper according to the invention provides for retention of the top stiffener sheet in a pocket of the first side flap. Accordingly, the user does not have to remove the top stiffener sheet from the wrapper at any time, except when he or she wants to use it as a form for folding shirts. Once the shirts are folded and stacked on the open wrapper, the user puts the wrapper into the pocket where it can stay until the next time (if ever) the user wants to use it again as a folding form. When the user opens the wrapper to remove one or more shirts, it is not necessary to handle the top stiffener sheet. The need to put the top stiffener sheet back into the wrapper when it is reclosed after removing a shirt is eliminated, and the possibility of misplacing or losing the top stiffener sheet is minimized.
In a preferred embodiment, the base, the first side flap and the second side flap are portions of a single sheet of material, which lies outermost when the wrapper is closed. The panels forming the bottom and top pockets are fastened on the same surface of the single sheet, which surface lies within the wrapper when it is folded over a stack of shirts. The single sheet construction of the base and side flaps provides a good appearance and simplified manufacture. Having the stiffener sheets inside the closed wrapper ensures that they are retained against being dislodged from the pockets.
Preferably, the top pocket is substantially coextensive with the top stiffener sheet so that all or nearly all of the top stiffener sheet resides inside the pocket. Retention of the top stiffener sheet is better ensured when the wrapper is opened and closed.
A preferred fastener for joining the two side flaps is a strip of hook and loop fastener of a length to enable adjustment. The second side flap may be rectangular and substantially coextensive widthwise with the base of the body. In that case, more secure closure is afforded by two strips of hook and loop fastener, each of a length to enable adjustment, located proximate to the ends of the side flaps.
The end flaps may overlap when folded over the stack of shirts. It is possible to leave the end flaps free of any fasteners, inasmuch as they can be held folded over the stack of shirts by friction. On the other hand, an end flap fastener for fastening the free ends of the end flaps when the wrapper is folded over a stack of shirts can be provided for better assurance that the wrapper will not partially open and allow the shirts to be partially or fully dislodged. In one suitable design, the end flaps overlap when folded over the stack of shirts and are joined by an end flap fastener in the form of a strip of hook and loop fastener of a length to enable adjustment. Adjustment enables the end flaps to be folded with different degrees of overlap, depending on the height of the stack of shirts. In another design, the end flap fastener may be formed of elastic bands and a connector, such as a buckle. Fasteners for the end flaps may be based on non-elastic bands and an adjustable connector, such as a buckle having cinch slots in one part.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, the panel forming the bottom pocket is stitched to the base of the body along substantially the entire perimeter of the bottom stiffener sheet so that the bottom stiffener sheet is not removable from the wrapper.
For a better understanding of the invention and its advantages, reference may be made to the following description of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.